Ariz. flash flood carries away tour bus

Julie Jacobson On Jul 29, 2013

A tow truck driver talks on his cell phone after assessing the location of a tour bus which was caught in flash flood waters and pushed down a wash about 300 yards from the road, Sunday, July 28, 2013, near Dolan Springs, Ariz. None of the 33 passengers or driver returning to Las Vegas from a trip to the west rim of the Grand Canyon were hurt in the crash which happened as Northern Arizona was hit with a second day of heavy rain. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

A tour bus lays on its side up against a bank of a wash, Sunday, July 28, 2013, near Dolan Springs, Ariz. The bus, which was carrying 33 passengers and on its way back to Las Vegas from the west rim of the Grand Canyon, was pushed 300 yards down the wash when the driver attempted to drive through flash flood waters flowing across the road. No one on the bus was hurt in the crash which happened as Northern Arizona was hit with a second day of heavy rain. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Photo credit: The Associated Press

This photo released by the Northern Arizona Consolidated Fire District shows a Las Vegas-bound tour bus lies on its side in a flooded desert wash near Dolan Springs, Ariz., Sunday, July 28, 2013, after being swept away by floodwaters amid heavy rains. The bus, which had left the Grand Canyon Skywalk glass bridge carrying 33 people, was pushed down the wash for an estimated 300 yards before it turned on its side and the passengers climbed out the driver''s side windows and walked onto the shore, according to fire officials. (AP Photo/Northern Arizona Consolidated Fire District, Patrick Moore)

Photo credit: The Associated Press

A tour bus lays on its side up against a bank of a wash, Sunday, July 28, 2013, near Dolan Springs, Ariz. The bus, which was carrying 33 passengers and on its way back to Las Vegas from the west rim of the Grand Canyon, was pushed 300 yards down the wash when the driver attempted to drive through flash flood waters flowing across the road. No one on the bus was hurt in the crash which happened as Northern Arizona was hit with a second day of heavy rain. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Photo credit: The Associated Press

This photo released by the Northern Arizona Consolidated Fire District shows a Las Vegas-bound tour bus lies on its side in a flooded desert wash near Dolan Springs, Ariz., Sunday, July 28, 2013, after being swept away by floodwaters amid heavy rains. The bus, which had left the Grand Canyon Skywalk glass bridge carrying 33 people, was pushed down the wash for an estimated 300 yards before it turned on its side and the passengers climbed out the driver''s side windows and walked onto the shore, according to fire officials. (AP Photo/Northern Arizona Consolidated Fire District, Patrick Moore)

Photo credit: The Associated Press

A motorist drives through a wash where flash flood waters had receded after a heavy rain storm, Sunday, July 28, 2013, near Dolan Springs, Ariz. A tour bus carrying 33 passengers back to Las Vegas from a trip to the west rim of the Grand Canyon was swept from the road and 300 yards down the wash earlier in the day when the driver attempted to drive through the flood waters. No one on the bus was hurt. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Photo credit: The Associated Press

Flash flood waters swept a tour bus with 33 people aboard hundreds of yards down a wash in northwestern Arizona and the vehicle flipped on its side, but no one was injured, officials said.

The Las Vegas-bound bus was returning Sunday afternoon from a day-trip to the Grand Canyon's west rim when the driver attempted to cross the wash on a rural road.

The high waters pushed the vehicle down the wash for an estimated 300 yards around 1:50 p.m. near Kingman, said Patrick Moore, chief of the Northern Arizona Consolidated Fire District, which had firefighters at the scene. The crash happened as northern Arizona was hit with a second day of heavy rain.

The area where the bus accident occurred received 0.75" of rain in about an hour on Sunday afternoon, said Chris Stumpf, a National Weather Service forecaster in Las Vegas. A flash flood warning was in effect when the accident occurred, he said.

"It was a really strong storm dumping quite a bit of rain ... and it caused flash flooding," Stumpf said. "They were driving on a portion of the road where they shouldn't have tried to drive across. They should not have been driving through there."

Rhonda Ho, operations manager for Canyon Coach Lines, said the bus owned by the Las Vegas-based company was being driven by Joseph Razon, who saw a car right in front of him go through a section of the highway covered by some water.

"He thought, if a car can go through it, I can go through it," Ho said.

"Then he got slammed by a rushing current of water that came out of nowhere," she said. "He was driving in almost neck-deep water and trying to control the bus while it was floating."

She said the driver managed to bring the bus against an embankment so it would stop and passengers could escape. People inside the bus were able to climb out of the driver's side windows and walked to dry land.

"I'm glad the driver kept his cool and everybody got out safely. No one screamed on the bus and everyone kept their cool and that's amazing," Ho said.

She described Razon as a "very professional driver" with a spotless record. He has worked for the company since 2005.

Kingman is near the Arizona-Nevada stateline and about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The bus passengers and driver returned on another bus to Las Vegas, where Ho was able to speak to the driver.

On Sunday evening, as a tow truck was preparing to take away the bus, it was lying on its side and had grass and other debris hanging from it. Two escape hatches on its roof were opened. Writing on the side of the bus said: "C.H. Destination" and "DBA: Canyon Coach Lines"

The passengers were no longer at the scene. The company had sent another bus to pick them up.

There were some swift-water rescues of stranded motorists Saturday night after a storm dropped nearly 2" of rain in about 90 minutes around Kingman, Stumpf said.

The flash flood warning around the accident scene has expired, he said, but there's a chance for more heavy rain and another similar warning on Monday.

The crash happened as Northern Arizona was hit with a second day of heavy rain.

The Arizona Department of Transportation closed an 18-mile stretch of Interstate-40 Saturday night between Flagstaff and Kingman because of the flash flooding.